There is a certain mindset that athletes have, said Smith. They are told to go have fun, but eventually it becomes all about winning.

“The relationship with our coaches in high school becomes a dictatorship. But here, the program is infected with the gospel,” said Smith.

At Bryan, even athletics are a spiritual discipline. That is the purpose of the Roundtable—to give community leaders a better understanding of the college and Christ in the college, according to Margie Legg.

“The devil wants me dead on the field, but bat to bat, pitch to pitch, Christ is right there,” said Smith.

The goal of the department is that, by the time athletes graduate, this campus has changed them, according to Hasty.

Adams thanked the coaching staff, saying that they are true servants. They serve in ways that students do not notice. They work without expecting thanks, said Adams.

Coaches have taken groceries and winter coats to student who can’t afford them. They have been fathers to the fatherless, said Zensen.

“Twice, I have stood at the gravesite of athletes who lost their mothers to breast cancer. We wept together. And I challenged them in their faith. That is Bryan College Athletics,” said Zensen.

The Roundtable heard about coaches who reached into their pockets so students could complete their degrees. They heard of a young man who thanked the athletics department for giving him a second chance at life. They heard of coaches who planted seeds to see them bear fruit years later.